Abbey Road Studios, the recording studio made famous by bands such as The
Beatles and Pink Floyd, has celebrated its 80th birthday just a day after it
was sold to a French-owned rival.

On November 12 1931, Abbey Road Studios officially opened its doors with Sir Edward Elgar conducting the London Symphony Orchestra playing Land of Hope and Glory.

Despite hosting a number of landmark recordings from artists such as Fred Astaire and Glenn Miller, it was not until The Beatles named their 11th studio album after the recording studio that it began to find worldwide fame.

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The sale of EMI's music publishing arm is due to be completed later, with a Sony-led consortium expected to land the business, which collects royalties from broadcasting of music on television and radio.

Brian Southall, a former director of EMI and the author of a book charting the history of the Abbey Road Studios, said it was now unclear what the future of the studios would be now it was no longer in British hands.

He said: "It is very sad that the whole of EMI's recorded music division has gone to Universal. There are no British record companies left to buy EMI. What Universal will do with Abbey Road, I don't know.

"Not many record companies have their own recording studios anymore. What its future is, nobody knows.

"Within the music industry Abbey Road was well known, but among the public it was an unknown facility.

"Then The Beatles called an album Abbey Road and that started people wandering up there to have their photograph taken.

"The Beatles went there and churned out hit after hit, it became the Mecca for artists to go to see if the magic would rub off on them.

"Kate Bush always felt it was magical because the building was situated on ley lines."